GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE ATP CHAMPIONSHIP

August 8, 1997

Jan Siemerink

MIKI SINGH: First question for Jan Siemerink.

JAN SIEMERINK: It's never, you know, if you play for three hours and it's a very close match, of course you're very disappointed with the end result. But there's not much you can do, you know, if you give a hundred and ten percent that's all you can do.

JAN SIEMERINK: Yeah, but, you know, that's part of my game. I'm playing serve and volley, first and second, and sometimes you have to make some extra risks when you serve. I mean I cannot serve like easy second serve to his backhand all the time, because then he's going to pass me all the time. You have to play a little more risky than when you stay back on your second. Yeah, I know that I hit more double faults than guys who stay back, but that's parts of my game.

JAN SIEMERINK: No. Like I said you it's just frustrating that you end up losing. That is the only thing what you're thinking about at the moment.

JAN SIEMERINK: Actually, I thought that most of the points were made. I tried to come to the net and make the volley finish and he was trying to pass me. So there was not so many -- I don't think there was so many errors in the match. It was just a matter of making the point. And if he hits a good shot, then okay, bad luck. Then he hits a good shot. The way I'm playing, I play with a high risk of course and sometimes you do too much, and sometimes you get the right feeling about a few points, and then you can make a break. I mean it's the same for him he came out with some unbelievable returns and passing shots, also. And yeah, that's how a game is when a serve and volleyer plays a baseliner.

JAN SIEMERINK: No. Never surprised. Because Muster you never beat Muster until you make matchpoint. That's not a surprise for me. He always fight back. But it's the same from here. I was not going to give up either. That's why it ended up in a tie breaker I think.

JAN SIEMERINK: You know, I was coming in all the time and if he pass me down the line all the time, I'm going to cover it. Then I'm going to know, okay, he goes down the line. So the thing for him is to, you know, mix it up very much lob. Go down the line or go cross or do a lob, but I don't know what he's going to do. So he tries to keep you off balance also all the time.

JAN SIEMERINK: Sometimes when you hit this certain shot you know that he's not going to go crosscourt. His only possibility is going down the line or maybe hit a lob. So you cut out one or two possibility. Sometimes there are more possibilities and then you don't know where to go. But that's, you know, that's the way how I play. And I thought especially on his backhand, I thought that he was -- if I came in then he tries to pass me down the line. And if I came in again on his backhand then he was going cross. He was mixing it up all the time. It wasn't going it be a down-the-line shot all the time or the lob all the time. It's tough. The thing is the pace he plays is -- it's unbelievable.

JAN SIEMERINK: I've been running a lot today. I had to cover a lot of court. And, yeah, that's how he plays and that's why he does very well. I and I mean that's not so easy to win a tournament like Key Biscayne for example, where all the big guys are guys. He's a good player on hardcourt, too.

JAN SIEMERINK: Actually, he doesn't have to do it. He's a very good tennis player and he is popular already. But I think he's overdoing it a little bit, because that's not the way he actually is. But, you know, what can I say, he won today and that's good for him.

JAN SIEMERINK: Yeah. I think so. I mean he's No. 5 in the world, and he's got good results in Grand Slams. In Melbourne I think he made it to the semifinals same at the U.S. Open he made it to the semifinals. Like I said he won Key Biscayne. Those are the biggest tournaments in the world, and if you can do well at those tournaments then you're a good hardcourt player. And I think he made semis here last year as well. So he knows how to play well on this stuff.

JAN SIEMERINK: No. Not really. Because most the time you're so concentrated in playing your own tennis. Because I have to do it. If I'm not concentrate, then I have no game. I have to be ready every point, because I'm thinking a lot and I cannot laid back a little bit and look what he's doing. It doesn't really interest me at all. Sometimes, I mean, you see it happening and that's okay. It didn't bother me at all.

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